Blood is the Price of Admiralty
I am posting this to Following Sea becuase Horatio would be so facinated, and so very sad.
Less than a life-time between his Navy and the Franklin exp. (Indeed, John Franklin was the signal mid on Bellerophon at Trafalgar.) And one long hop, let us say, from 1845 to 1944, and we are into the modern Navy. (Anyone's modern Navy.)
I was interested that in this short clip you can see the way the Erebus was modified. The ship was supposed to use sail most of the time, the prop was only for emergencies. But they ended up in sort of a permanant emergency. They also had an early desalinator, they were supposed to be able to make their own drinking water at sea. I don't think it worked very well.
I don't know that this find brings us any closer to knowing what happened. We are not likely to find a tell-all journal that says "in case you future people were wondering..." Probably the end was just human and squalid and sad. And the thing is Franklin knew how things go wrong. He had been in another polar disaster already. That was the expedition with George Back. That is how Franklin got to be named 'The man who ate his boots.' The implication there is that he perhaps did not eat anything worse.
Anyway, here is the clip. I get the shivers watching it. i am not a fan of wreck diving anyway. Seems like a terrible idea. And this wreck--well. See if it gives you guys the spinal creep.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/franklin-shipwreck-divers-offer-live-video-tour-of-hms-erebus-1.3035545
Less than a life-time between his Navy and the Franklin exp. (Indeed, John Franklin was the signal mid on Bellerophon at Trafalgar.) And one long hop, let us say, from 1845 to 1944, and we are into the modern Navy. (Anyone's modern Navy.)
I was interested that in this short clip you can see the way the Erebus was modified. The ship was supposed to use sail most of the time, the prop was only for emergencies. But they ended up in sort of a permanant emergency. They also had an early desalinator, they were supposed to be able to make their own drinking water at sea. I don't think it worked very well.
I don't know that this find brings us any closer to knowing what happened. We are not likely to find a tell-all journal that says "in case you future people were wondering..." Probably the end was just human and squalid and sad. And the thing is Franklin knew how things go wrong. He had been in another polar disaster already. That was the expedition with George Back. That is how Franklin got to be named 'The man who ate his boots.' The implication there is that he perhaps did not eat anything worse.
Anyway, here is the clip. I get the shivers watching it. i am not a fan of wreck diving anyway. Seems like a terrible idea. And this wreck--well. See if it gives you guys the spinal creep.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/franklin-shipwreck-divers-offer-live-video-tour-of-hms-erebus-1.3035545